Some Reads

Here's a few random reads that I've been meaning to mention.

After months of waiting, I read Diana Peterfreund's Rampant. My final thought? Eh. Didn't hate it, didn't love it. Also, for some reason, I didn't expect it to be set in modern day, so that threw me off a bit. And the unicorn aspect was different and interesting....but still, just an "eh" overall.

Rating: 6.5/10

I finished The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry last night. My overwhelming thought on the book? Postmodern.

Here's the Amazon description of it:
"Charles Unwin, a clerk who's toiled for years for the Pinkerton-like Agency, has meticulously catalogued the legendary cases of sleuth Travis Sivart. When Sivart disappears, Unwin, who's inexplicably promoted to the rank of detective, goes in search of him. While exploring the upper reaches of the Agency's labyrinthine headquarters, the paper pusher stumbles on a corpse. Aided by a narcoleptic assistant, he enters a surreal landscape where all the alarm clocks have been stolen. In the course of his inquiries, Unwin is shattered to realize that some of Sivart's greatest triumphs were empty ones, that his hero didn't always come up with the correct solution."

I just didn't have the patience to get into it. Most of the time I was skimming, saying "yeah, yeah, very postmodern, I don't understand what's happen, blah blah." So clearly my attitude didn't really help in my reading and interpretation of the work.

However, Pearl of Pearl's Picks recommend this book and she hardly ever steers me wrong. Ah well.

Rating: 5/10

Quick Reviews

I haven't read anything lately that I've felt compelled to blog about but here's a few brief reviews.

I did read The Magician's Ward by Patricia C. Wrede and it was decent. The "romance" felt rushed, as did the overall story. And I noticed that the back cover copy was very misleading as to what the book was actually about. Here's a brief (and accurate) summary from Amazon:

"This sequel to Mairelon the Magician finds Kim, an apprentice magician and ward of Richard Merrill (Mairelon), in Regency England society. When Mairelon's magic powers are stolen, Kim must trust her magician's abilities to uncover the thief."

Rating: 6/10


Awhile back I also finished The Devil in Music, the last of Kate Ross' Julian Kestrel series.

It was long and took me awhile to get into--but at the end, I was so impressed by the complex weaving that went into the story as well as the twists and reasonings behind people's actions. It was a long read but dived into all sorts of secrets. Also, the title is fabulous--I don't want to ruin it but when the connection was finally revealed, I had to smile in delight at how perfectly named the book is.

All in all, Julian Kestrel's mysteries are definitely a series that's worth reading.

You're not better than the pros!

I don't remember why I wanted to read Fake I.D. by Walter Sorrells, other than it featured a mom and a daughter living on the run. It seemed like an intriguing YA story.

And it could've been a good story, except for so many gaping plotlines and holes. Chasity Pureheart doesn't know her real name; her current name was plucked from a romance novel. Her and her mom have been running for 16 years but "Chass" doesn't know why. Her mom goes missing and then Chass' life falls apart....or finally comes together? Well, thanks to the preview of book two at the end, you learn neither happens. It's Sorrells decided he wanted to write more about the series, so he totally writes off what happened in book one.

But here's my biggest issue with the book: the secret could've easily been turned over to the police. It should've been immediately turned over! I truly do not understand why Chass' mom has decided to keep them on the run, other than she says something like she's been working on finding solid evidence on this one bad guy for the last 16 years. Honey, clearly you suck at it. Let the pros do their job. Oh! Here's another thing--spoiler alert--at the end, you get a preview of the next book and even though they revealed the secret, the same people are still after them. I DON'T GET IT. The secret should've been in police custody, etc.

There's a few issues, too, with continuity. Chass leaves a guitar and all her clothing in a certain car, which she has to ditch, leaving it all behind. Yet somehow later she still has it. What? Aah, and so much gets resolved in a page or two, it killed me. Really, this book just killed me. (And you think a few other characters, but nope, book two brings them back.)

It certainly was action-packed and an engrossing read but the reason for it all annoyed me so much, as did little continuity issues.

Rating: 6/10

Plants galore

First of all, I really like Franz Ferdinand. Their latest CD makes me want to have a party--or workout (seriously, they make working out and running so much better).

Anyway, I've been reading everywhere about Margot Berwin's Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire. Is the hype justified?

Hmm, well, isn't that a pretty cover? No, just kidding, the book was interesting and I really enjoyed the focus on tropical plants, along with their mystical qualities. It's probably just so different (a bit of magic realism combined with plant lore) that it stands out.

Here's the plot: Lila is a recently divorced, youngish, NY advertising executive. She meets a hottttttt plant man who sells her a tropical plant. She discovers that she loves plants, which leads her to this random laundromat filled with plants--including the nine plants of desire. A few mistakes later, the plants are stolen and Lila must make it up to the laundromat owner, Armand. So they travel to Mexico to locate replacements and Lila learns more about the plants and realizes how full her life can be.

I liked the book; however, I think you can see where plotting and symbols tighter. Still, Berwin shows a lot of promise and definitely offered up a unique twist with her focus on tropical plants.

On a side note, it's been pretty darn hot here and I don't have air conditioning (by choice--I love being warm!), so I could really feel her descriptions of the jungle and heat.

Rating: 6.5/10

Actually a biography

In college, I read Kathleen Norris' Cloister Walk and thoroughly enjoyed her writing. So when I saw her Virgin of Bennington at a library book sale for $1, it was an easy buy decision.

From reading the cover copy, I thought it was going to be about her college years and the time afterward--how she led a wild life in NYC to developing faith and moving to one of the Dakotas. But really, the book was about her mentor and employer, Betty Kray, whom she met in NYC.

While Kray's life was interesting and important, particularly for American poetry, a mini-biography wasn't what I was expecting. It seemed as if Norris started out writing about herself but found Kray to be more fascinating.

The book itself wasn't that bad; it was just so wrongly marketed and has such a misleading cover copy that I think most people will be a bit puzzled and then annoyed that Virgin isn't at all what they thought it would be.

Ah well, at least it was my nonfiction read for the month. And it was an appropriate follow-up to Billy Collins, too.

Rating: 6/10

Bleh reads

Some reads from last week and brief opinions:

Reluctant Burglar by Jill Elizabeth Nelson -- The cover copy really made it seem as if this book would be full of art theft and capers...but it really wasn't. That is one trouble with Christian fiction; some of the most intriguing story lines can involve morally wrong actions. So how does an author work around that?

Anyway, Burglar was more of a organized crime/FBI sort of book than an art heist novel. Whatever. It just didn't capture my fancy at all. To quote one Amazon reviewer, it's "vanilla."

Rating: 6/10

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner -- Book two in a series, following The Thief, which I remember liking okay. Turner's writing just must not do it for me. All the talk of war and battle strategy didn't captivate me, either. The book does has some surprising twists and I know many bloggers have raved over it, so evidently it does appeal to some people, just not me.

Rating: 7/10

Maybe I was just in a cranky reading mood? Ah, well, life goes on...

That shameful? Really?

While I haven't seen the movie, The Reader seemed to have a fairly interesting plot, so I picked it up. Am I glad I did? Meh.

To preface, the story is set in 1950s Germany. Michael Berg is 15 years old and has hepatitis. He meets Hanna, a woman in her mid-30s, who finds him sick outside her apartment one day. Michael, once he feels better, goes to visit her...and ends up sort of being seduced? And they end up having an affair for months and months. Hanna requests that Michael reads to her; he does and that becomes a major part of their relationship.

The story is broken into three parts: Michael's teen years, his 20s and then 30s-ish. Hanna saturates his entire life, preventing him from really moving on in his life (at least in my opinion). Hanna has deep secrets of her own, which set up the theme for the book.

Overall, the book was okay but I didn't really sympathize with Hanna or Michael. I can understand the effect she had on him but I couldn't comprehend her one secret (the non-fire related one) and why she wouldn't try to correct it until it was too late. She was that ashamed of it? Really? I'm such a doer that I can't handle not fixing her situation. Ah well.

Rating: 6.5/10

A bit different from the usual

On a whim, several years ago, I picked up Suzanne Strempek Shea's Becoming Finola. The cover was pretty and the plot sounded interesting. I ended up loving the book and went on to read most of Shea's other novels. Sheas' Hoopi Shoopi Donna made me cry--and I don't cry easily while reading. So I went into her Lily of the Valley expecting tears. Instead, I ended up not caring about the narrator, Lily, or her story.

Lily is an artist who chose to stay in a small town, not doing much. Her big break comes when the richest lady in town asks her to make a painting of her family--but her family is all dead and Lily has to use old photographs to create the portrait. So the book goes back and forth, into Lily's past, as well as the rich old lady's. There isn't much of a plot to the book, other than Lily working on the painting.

One Amazon reviewer sad the book made her slightly depressed--and I can see why. Lily is 39, divorced, living in a little apartment in a small town, mainly doing grunt artwork to survive. She doesn't appear to have much ambition to do anything else, so my pity was pretty darn low. At the end, the "moral" of the book is that you choose your family, blah blah blah (can you tell I thought it was a bit preachy and overdone?). Evidently that makes poor, single Lily feel better--yeah, so it's clear I didn't think much of Lily or her art. At least no tears were shed.

Rating: 6/10

Couldn't accept

I read Erynn Mangum's Miss Match about two years ago and remember really enjoying it. It was cheery, bopped along and was pretty relatable to my life: the main character, Lauren Holbrook, is in her early 20s, living at home, loves chocolate and coffee and believes her calling is matchmaking. While I'm not a matchmaker, it was fun reading.

Fast to my present day reading of the second book in the series, Rematch, which didn't enchant me; it bugged me. It was many little things...Lauren only drinks coffee (and the occasional pop) and eats chocolate or junk food. For lunch, she'd have cheesecake. For dinner, it'd be a brownie sundae. AND YET SHE'S STILL SKINNY. Gaaaaaaaaahhhhh. Seriously, if anyone ate like that in real life, they'd weigh 250+ pounds. Perhaps it's because I work so hard to stay in shape and know that I can't overindulge, but I hate reading about people who eat a ton of crappy food and still are so thin. Maybe it's because I've moved on in my life and Lauren hasn't but I think our similarities have ended.

The book just felt like a Jack Russell Terrier wrote it--hyper, hyper, hyper. The dialogue was snappy and the book never seemed to drag; in fact, I wanted it to slow down at times. But again, one aspect that bugged me was that everyone--including people they just met--called each other "honey," "sweetheart," "dear," etc. Random guys would call their female friends "honey"--and they were honestly just friends. Um, that's abnormal. If it was just one person, I could've handled it. But seriously, EVERYONE did it.

And one last complaint: Lauren's dad's new girlfriend, in discussing marriage, says that she didn't meet her first husband until she was 25. In context though (and perhaps I'm just a bit sensitive on this subject), the girlfriend made it seem as though 25 was kind of old to find your mate and that Lauren still had plenty of time, as she was only 22 or 23. GAAAAAAHHH. I'm just praying I'll get married by my late, late 20s. I also read this weekend that a woman's fertility starts to decrease by age 25, so yeah, I'm screwed--old and infertile.

I know the author is young (I think she was 22 or 23 when she wrote the book) so I'm sure that as she matures, her writing and aspects of the plot will, too.

On a positive note, any elements of faith were extremely natural and woven in quite well. Her faith was part of the story. So props on that, Mangum.

I checked out book two and three at the same time, so I will read the third book.

Rating: 6/10

I now know where Kiev is

The last geography class I remember taking was in fourth grade. Scary. Well, thanks to Conspiracy in Kiev by Noel Hynd, I now know where Kiev is (Ukraine!).

I picked up this book because it was about Russia and Ukraine. It's a thriller--think Robert Ludlum or someone along those lines. As such, the characters tend to be a little flat, with more telling than showing. Sure, there's action, but I think I'm more of a character girl. The book is also a bit long and since I wasn't in love with like Rites of Spring (Break), it took me several days to finish off.

Alex is an agent with the Treasury...but somehow gets involved with the CIA. Anyway, she's sent over to Kiev to act as an emissary/bodyguard to a major Ukrainian mobster, because the U.S. president is coming over for a visit and the CIA doesn't want any trouble. Well, there's trouble and people die and Alex's mobster disappears. Everyone thinks he's behind the shootings.

So...about that mobster...Alex is repeatedly told to STICK LIKE GLUE to the mobster, Yuri FedersomethingRussian. It's repeated numerous times; one CIA guy basically tells her to seduce him so she can spend even more time with him. So what does she do? She spends like three hours a day with the mobster, if that. How is that like GLUE, Alex??? And why did no one call her out on that?

Anyway, fast forward a few months and Alex is randomly off to South America for a totally different job. SUPPOSEDLY these two jobs end up tying together but I literally was thinking "what is this? this plotline is weak!" while reading it. Yeah, more shootings happen and then she's taken back to Europe where more shootings occur because she's a target or something. People want her dead. And since there's more books in the series (yet to come out), my guess is that they'll keep after her.

***Spoiler alert***
Can I just say that I knew her fiance was going to be knocked off? I knew it! I kept on waiting for him to die at any moment. And why did Alex almost die at the end? The bullet evidently didn't even really penetrate that far.
****

Rating: 6.5/10

Entertaining enough

Perhaps Ally Carter has ruined me for other teen spy series. That could be why I found Shannon Greenland's Model Spy entertaining but not that plausible. (Which I fully accept as a ridiculous statement. Any book about a 15- or 16-year-old person being a spy is going to be somewhat hard to swallow. Still, Carter did such a good job of making me believe in her world.)

Here's the basic gist: Little orphan Kelly is a computer genius but don't worry, she's not geeky--she's so beautiful she could be a model (which may come in handy later on...). She's about to finish college, having skipped years and years of schooling. A cute boy asks her to break into a government site and Kelly, like a sap, does it for him. And then she winds up arrested and forced to make a decision: join an elite group of teenage spies or go to jail. She becomes a spy--and surprise, surprise, that cute boy who asked her to break the law is also a spy, too! Basically, he set up her up to be recruited. I do have some issues with that, since they didn't really give her a choice (be a spy or die!!! ok, just kidding), but whatever.

So Kelly thinks she's going to be a a stay-at-home spy, tapping away at a keyboard but suddenly she has to pose as a model in order to complete this mission that I don't feel like going into detail about. Oh, and one of her partners is the cute boy.

It's not like this was a bad book. It was short and tiny. (Seriously, the book was oddly small-sized.) I just didn't love it. I'm sure there's some teen girls out there who love, love, love this book. But I just like Ally Carter's spy series better.

In a positive note, deleting this book off of my TBR list on Amazon now means I only have 25 books on the list! And six of those books haven't even been released yet.

Rating: 6/10

Scary

It's scary how time flies. It's been OVER A YEAR since I added Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation to be Amazon wishlist aka my to-be-read list. Where has time gone???

That being said, I'm not sure this book was worth waiting a year to read. Okay, not that I really waited a year since I kept on putting reading it off, but anyway, here's my thoughts.

This is nonfiction, which isn't my usual fare. I'm not usually too into nonfiction writing but the theme of this book sounded interesting. The author is fascinated by presidential assassinations. She visits all sorts of assassination historical sites and writes about it in a very scattered manner. That's probably my main complaint: the book is divided into just three chapters (the three presidents assassinated) but, in my opinion, could have really used tighter editing and more divided topics instead of just "Abraham Lincoln." It's probably a sign of intelligence but Vowell hops from one subject to the next sooooo quickly. It's as if she has ADD and the mention of some random little word brings up a whole other topic of discussion. While most of it is interesting, it was just too un-cohesive for me to absorb all the details.

She's also fairly liberal, so sarcastic comments about Bush and the current state of American affairs are scattered throughout, which is not something I'm looking for in a book about historical assassinations. That's why I try to avoid politics; it's such a dividing topic--you can really turn people off your work by trumpeting your beliefs. I read to escape everyday life, not to stew about how awful America is.

So while I don't necessarily recommend this book, I wouldn't try to dissuade anyone from reading it. It's just a book I read that had some interesting facts...but honestly, looking back, I still don't have a clear picture of how McKinley and Garfield were assassinated. Oh well, at least I read something nonfiction. Good for me. And I like the cover. It's unique.

Rating: 6.5/10

Dripping with emotion

I was somewhat looking forward to reading Evernight by Claudia Gray but wow, I didn't really enjoy it and here's why: teenage love. I just can't handle all the emotions teenage love comprises.



Evernight is about Bianca, a girl who's forced to go to boarding school (but don't worry; her parents are teachers there, so she's not alone but she's SUCH an outsider...yeah...) and is forced to make new friends. She feels like she doesn't fit in, is super shy, blah blah blah...but then she meets Lucas. She can be herself with Lucas! It's LOVE! So they have a little fight and don't talk for weeks...it's still LOVE. Okay, so you don't even know why they're in love other than they're both misfits...it's still LOVE.

Basically, the love aspect of the story was just dumb...I couldn't accept it at all. And the book reminded me majorly of Twilight. So much so, I was literally about to stop reading it...but then, Gray pulls out a nice twist that kept me reading. The book ventures into an un-Twilight-esque book from there, which is good.

Yeah...I just didn't like the book. Too much drama, too much "love," too much...teenageness.

Rating: 6/10

The worst spy ever

I liked M. L. Tyndall's pirate series. Sadly her latest work does not involve pirates, but rather the world's worst spy.

Okay, seriously, to read and enjoy this book, give up any expectation for realism. The characters, action, etc. do not fit the early 1800s. And while it is a Christian romance, it's probably one of the "edgier" ones.

Here's the plot: Dominique is being forced to spy for France in order to save her brother's life. She unwillingly does so, agreeing to become a governess for an English admiral's son. Surprise, surprise: the governess and admiral fall in love/lust. There's emotional turmoil because the (young) admiral has been widowed; he doesn't belive in God anymore; and dang, that governess is hottttt. Dominique, on the other hand, is the world's worst spy; it is simply amazing that the admiral was too blind to see her actions.

Anyway, there's a happy ending and all that, including the admiral turning back to God. That was probably my biggest issue of the book. I firmly, firmly believe that you need to marry someone on your spiritual level--and someone who believes the same as you. Otherwise, you're heading for a load of trouble. Dominique is a Christian and the admiral has turned his back on God. He starts to pray at the end and everyone seems to think that everything is all right again. There wasn't true repentance and salvation; it was a "ok, let's make everyone okay with God so they can get married" ending.

I think the best example of that sort of ending is the Cheney Duvall series--Shiloh actually leaves her and goes away for awhile to fully develop a true relationship with God, without any distractions. That spoke true sincerity to me and a putting of God first above everything else. I didn't see that in this book.

Rating: 6/10

In which Jane develops a romance novel heroine complex

In a nod to my fondness for pioneer novels, I reviewed Jennifer L. Holm's Boston Jane: An Adventure back in September. My new library in my new town has book two in the series, Boston Jane: Wilderness Days, so of course I had to immediately check it out.

Book two didn't spark my fancy quite as much--mostly because Jane developed several romance novel heroine complexes. She and the male lead had a Big Misunderstanding, which seriously, if they just communicated a teeny, tiny bit, would be resolved within seconds. This book alone shows the importance of good communication to create a healthy relationship. (True, this book is geared to the YA audience, but still, Jane and Jehu, the male lead, had the dumbest misunderstandings. Just freakin' TALK to each, Jane and Jehu!) As it is a middle school YA novel, there isn't much romantic action at all. There's just more talk and no action.

The plot was a bit scattered and a large part of it was based on Jane's feelings--more character than plot driven. Still, there was plenty of pioneer grit and gristle in the book, with the promise of more to come in the third one.

Yeah...so from reading this entry you may think I didn't like this book. I did like it; Jane just annoyed me with her HUGE assumptions and failure to listen/talk/be reasonable--which, hey, we've all encountered those heroines in various romance novels. I just hope the third book, Boston Jane: The Claim, has a more consistent and likeable Jane in it.

Rating: 6.5/10

Couldn't believe the looooove

In my quest to read Elizabeth Peters' backlist, I picked up Copenhagen Connection at the library this week. I must say this one isn't her best work.

First of all, I hate this book's cover. My own copy has an awesome early 1980s one, with fireworks and a couple running on it. While pigs do play a tiny role in the book, I just don't get this cover. Pigs--tulips--a statute?! Weird.

Anyway, here's the plot: American Elizabeth Jones is taking a vacation to Copenhagen. While on the airplane, she meets her hero: Noble-prize winning historian Margaret Rosenberg. A random accident leads to Elizabeth becoming Margaret's secretary. Oh, and by the way, Margaret's son is tagging along--he's handsome but a major stick-in-the-mud. Margaret gets kidnapped and the two are forced to work together to rescue her. They end up in love and experience danger, etc. It's a fairly typical Peters plot--fun, action-packed, plenty of humor.

Christian (the stick-in-the-mud guy) and Elizabeth supposedly fall in love. I just could not believe it. If it was reality, Christian would have thought Elizabeth was stupid and been terribly annoyed by her. As heroines go, Elizabeth isn't bad; Christian is just so serious. In fairness, he does loosen up as the book goes on, but there just isn't much romance and I can't belive they would actually fall in love.

Also, Christian calls his mother "Margaret"--never Mom, etc. Elizabeth never seemed to think that was weird, either. I thought it was odd.

All in all, it wasn't her best but it's still a fun, no thinking required sort of read.

Rating: 6/10

Whew

My nervous book binge can stop; I got the job I wanted. Now, it's just nerves about the first week or so of work. I hate being in uncomfortable situations and starting a new job is so awkward. Where do I eat lunch? Can I surreptitiously check my personal email? What do I wear? Oh, and there's the little part where I think this job will actually be challenging--which seriously will be a first for me. I normally am incredibly bored at work (which is why I must be able to check my email!). Anyway, this new job doesn't have an hour lunch break like my old one, so the number of books I read will go down. So sad.

Anyway, I picked up a Velda Johnson book for $1 at a local used bookstore. She evidently wrote (still writes?) gothic mysteries. Masquerade in Venice, published in 1970, features Sara Randall, an American spinster. She's about 24 and after the shady death of her employer, she goes off to live with her great-aunt in Venice. Mystery abounds.

Oh, and did I mention that her ex-fiancé somehow finds out that Sara is living in Venice and rents a room in the house??? Oh, and that he and Sara are fighting/still in love but he SLEEPS WITH HER COUSIN EIGHT TIMES because (and this is my summary of his quote): "You didn't actually expect me to stay chaste even though I'm here in Venice STAYING WITH YOUR FAMILY all so I can win you back? Well, sorry, you've been too mean to me and I have needs that your slutty cousin can fulfill." My only response? OMG. Sara, find yourself a better man.

Masquerade in Venice is basically a standard gothic novel. I didn't expect excellence and I didn't get it--but it wasn't an awful read, either.

Rating: 6/10

Drama, drama

I liked Anna Godbersen's The Luxe when it came out last year. So, I was somewhat eager to read Rumors, the sequel.

This pic doesn't do the cover justice. The model's dress spreads out and covers the back of the book, too. Here is the first book's cover, just to give you an idea:

Gorgeous! I wish I lived in an era where I could wear a dress like that...although, naturally, I would also be very rich because let's be real; no poor or middle-class person could ever afford that luscious dress.

The Luxe series follows two sisters, Elizabeth and Diana Holland, as they navigate New York society in the very late 1890s. The pretty, used-to-be-rich-but-now-secretly-poor girls both love guys they can't have and suffer the consequences.

In the first book, Elizabeth ends up faking her death and running away with the stable boy, Will. They end up happy together in California (which was a weird place for them to go, but whatever). Diana realizes that she loved Elizabeth's ex-fiancé, Henry, who is one of the reasons why Elizabeth faked her death. Yeah, somehow she just couldn't break off the engagement, so instead she sends her whole family into mourning. Her mother was forcing her to marry Henry so they could be rich again. Anyway, Diana and Henry finally find out that Elizabeth is alive--but everyone's arch-enemy, Penelope, knows Elizabeth is alive, too. Penelope schemes, blackmails and extorts Diana and Henry--because she wants Henry for herself. Everyone's plans go awry and basically no one ends up happy at the end of book two.

****Spoiler**** Seriously, the ending is not happy. Will freaking DIES. He and Elizabeth finally get married and he gets shot that same day. Good thing I accidently peeked ahead and saw that or I would've been really ticked. And Henry marries Penelope! Both sisters are now alone and thwarted in their love. I just don't see how the ending in the third book, Envy, will be that great. Penelope and Henry divorce? Penelope dies? Diana falls in love with someone who will actually stand up for himself (let's hope so)? Elizabeth spends the rest of her life mourning Will (a la Rose in Titanic)? Hmmm. I guess I'll have to find out. *****

Rating: 6.5/10

Issues

I wasn't a huge fan of The Lace Reader but I have to admit that I thought about the book the whole day. That is definitely a sign of a quality book (or one that has a really unsatisfying ending).

I'm just a mess in general because I really want to read Breaking Dawn. However, I'm on a budget and as pathetic as it sounds, I don't want to buy BD yet when I know I'll be able to buy it in a month or so for $5. Thankfully my best friend is mailing me her copy! Thank you Mary!!!

I read Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran earlier this year and picked up its sequel, Rosewater and Soda Bread, at the library.

Pretty cover, yes? Yes. The inside was a bit messier, however. The story is about three Iranian sisters and their new life in Ireland. There's plenty of delicious food and magic realism. What was lacking was a coherent plot. This sequel featured several plotlines but none were fully developed.
The romance was shaky, the girl who shakes up their life just kind of fades away and "threats" to the sisters' way of life were mentioned and then just dropped. It was so odd. I really liked the first book but this one just didn't match up to it.

Rating: 6.5/10

Liars

I tend to be someone who trusts book reviews. So when I read in BookPage that "If you choose just one novel to read in these waning days of summer, it should be the lovely and terrifically paced The Lace Reader," I decided to read it. My conclusion? I wish I had been reading Breaking Dawn.

Alright, so The Lace Reader wasn't really that bad. Here's the plot, straight from the BookPage review: "Towner has returned to her hometown of Salem after her beloved Aunt Eva drowns in the harbor while out on her daily swim. It's a suspicious death: a volatile local evangelist had lately been accusing Eva, who ran a local tea room and could tell people's fortunes by reading images in lace, of witchcraft.

Towner's homecoming is a reluctant one. She's spent years in Los Angeles to avoid Salem, where her twin sister committed suicide and her eccentric mother remains on an isolated island, operating a modern-day Underground Railroad for abused wives. Coming home brings Towner face to face with painful secrets that still haunt the Whitney family."

The narrator, Sophya "Towner" Whitney, is a liar. The first sentence establishes that. She's tricky, though; you don't know what she's lying about. If you're like me, you forget she's a liar and believe everything. And at the end, when a HUGE twist is revealed, you're in shock and then don't really understand the whole novel. Seriously, the twist is that huge. Hints of the truth are there, but you'd never put it together.

My main issue is that I don't understand Towner. Does she know the truth and is just suppressing it? She was institutionalized and had shock therapy--did that twist her mind? I can't go into detail without ruining the twist but her reality seems so real. What, then, is truth?

The story is set in Salem, MA. The author creates excellent atmosphere and her writing is very...stylized. I don't think this is the only book you should read this summer, however. If you like unrealiable narrators and postmodern works, read it. (Let me clarify this: I don't mind postmodern work. I just think the twist in this book so contorts reality that I needed more explanation and truth. That's all.)

Rating: 6.5/10